ACTA, Canadian Airlines Seek Travel Changes for Canada

ACTA and Canada's two largest airlines want less restrictive quarantine policies for international visitors to Canada, as well as open provincial borders to help the travel and tourism industry.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial premiers, the Canada Travel and Tourism Roundtable group, which includes ACTA, WestJet, Air Canada and other groups, said the tourism industry is vital to Canada’s economy and that some of the current restrictions in place are too broad or unnecessary.

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“ACTA is pleased to be working with Canada’s Travel and Tourism Industry to build both consumer and government confidence in travel and tourism and to create awareness of all the health and safety initiatives that travel businesses have put in place so that Canadians can travel as safely as possible,” ACTA president Wendy Paradis told TravelPulse Canada.

“Close to 90% of Canadian Travel Agents remain laid-off and this will not change until the federal government removes restrictions allowing Canadians to travel again across Canada and abroad. We see the value of working with a professional travel agent even more beneficial now to navigate these unique COVID-19 circumstances.”

"WestJet has built a framework to allow Canadians to travel safely and responsibly," the company said in a release yesterday. "We have done our part and spent millions of dollars to ensure the safety and well-being of our guests and our people. We’re ready.

"Now we are asking the provincial and federal governments to act with urgency and align the additional hurdle of the patchwork of domestic quarantine periods, as well as standardize intra-provincial trade advice. Today, WestJet stands shoulder to shoulder with more than 120 travel and tourism organizations asking for the reopening of Canada to summer travel, and helping get 1.8 million citizens back to work in this critical industry."

Air Canada's chief executive officer, Calin Rovinescu, said in a webcast that government regulations are "stifling" the recovery of the airline industry and the Canadian economy.

"It strikes me as being a combination of disproportionate steps, things that are really stifling the return to a normalized aviation environment," he said.

Here’s the letter signed by ACTA and other roundtable groups, including the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, the National Airlines Council of Canada and the Hotel Association of Canada.

“As a society, we have faced a threat like no other, COVID-19. And we are still dealing with it.

Under the leadership of our governments, we agreed to implement tough decisions to protect our health and safety. We shut down our schools, our businesses, and our borders. We all made sacrifices and continue to adapt to this new reality.

Now, it seems, we are getting through the worst of it. As we re-open, we are learning to live with the virus, not hide from it or from each other. And, just like we are re-opening the front doors of our homes and businesses, we need to re-open the doors of our provinces, territories – and our country.

The Canadian travel, tourism and hospitality sector employs 1.8 million people and contributes $102 billion to our economy. It relies on the summer season to survive. As Canadians, we wait all year to travel during the summer. We need the summer.

Like you, we believe personal safety is critical. However, many of the travel restrictions currently in place are simply too broad or unnecessary. Limitations on inter-provincial travel that restrict Canadians from freely exploring our country, should be removed. Canadians should be free to travel across Canada.

We also need a more targeted approach to international travel. The mandatory 14-day quarantine and complete closure of our country to all visitors from abroad is no longer necessary and is out of step with other countries across the globe.

Not all countries and regions are risky, and we shouldn’t treat them as such. For international visitors, it’s time to mirror the measured and safe approaches taken in other countries – like Germany, France, Italy and Australia, among many that have started to re-open borders to safe countries.

Heightened hygiene and bio-safety measures are being adopted across travel and tourism in Canada to allow for safe travel, with confidence. It’s time to encourage Canadians and some visitors from abroad to explore our country this summer, to begin reuniting friends and families, to allow important business travel to occur, and to get our employees working safely again.

It’s time our governments allow Canadians to travel freely."

The Roundtable group is using the hashtag #timetotravel.